> "well, the math doesn't support having children, so I won't" The thing is that that's not how it works. It's not the case that everyone first does the math,

> "well, the math doesn't support having children, so I won't" The thing is that that's not how it works. It's not the case that everyone first does the math, and then the rational decision. But what does happen is that a lot of families, all over the place, make the individual choice of "we'd love to, but we can't afford another kid". And in aggregate, that leads to lower birth rates across society. And if society makes it cheaper to have kids, the birth rate goes up.